What is this thing called “buzz?” Everyone craves it when it is good,everyone denies it when it is bad, and at a festival like Toronto thereare teams of people whose sole job is to create, monitor, and manage thebuzz. Indie PR companies — Clein + White, mPRm, DDA, Magic Lantern,and others — have set up offices at the Four Seasons, while theIndieWood companies — Miramax, Fine Line, October and Fox Searchlightamong them — are in suite space on the fourth floor of 101 Bloor St.West.

As the 1998 Toronto International Film Festival crosses the half waypoint, acquisitions buzz surrounds a handful of festival films. As wasreported by indieWIRE yesterday, Tod Williams’ “The Adventures ofSebastian Cole” was the first Toronto film to sell, not surprising giventhe high distributor interest over the weekend. Late Sunday night asfestival attendees fanned out across town at festival fetes, sourcesspoke of Paramount’s pact for “Cole” and by yesterday afternoon thepick-up was old news among informed industry-types. Yet even today —without daily print trades here to share the news — nearly 48 hoursafter the Paramount Classics/”Cole” buzz first began, some typicallyinformed folks — who are obviously not checking email — had not heardyet the news. Also the subject of industry talk is Don McKellar’s “LastNight.” As reported in indieWIRE this morning, the film is in talkswith October Films and a deal appears likely. Contacted for commentyesterday, an October spokesperson did not refute the buzz, but couldnot confirm a pact.

Generating significant legitimate buzz here since its weekend screeningis Morgan J. Freeman’s second film, “Desert Blue,” which is being reppedby Cassian Elwes and Rena Ronson of WMA Independents. The movie, whichstars Brendan Sexton III (“Welcome to the Dollhouse,” “HurricaneStreets“), newcomer Kate Hudson (the upcoming “200 Cigarettes“), andSara Gilbert (TV’s “Roseanne”) screened well on Saturday night.Distributor interest in the film was high given the fact that the no onehad seen the movie before the festival, and undoubtedly as a result ofthe three award wins at Sundance ’97 for Freeman’s first film,“Hurricane Streets.” The movie was financed by Ignite Entertainment andproduced by Andrea Sperling, along with Co-Producer Gill Holland.Representatives from all the major (and some minor) distributors were inthe audience for the screening, including Miramax’s Jason Blum, AmyIsrael and Robert Kessel, Fine Line’s Rachael Horovitz, October’sBingham Ray and Peter Kalmbach, Sony Classic’s Dylan Leiner, LionsGate‘s Mark Urman, Strand‘s Marcus Hu, The Samuel Goldwyn Company‘s JeffLipsky, and Arrow‘s Guinevere von Ludwig. The Miramax team seemedespecially attentive to the “Blue” crew in the lobby after the showing,and at the post-screening party a “Desert Blue” source confirmed thattwo distribution offers were already on the table. No deal has beenannounced yet , but last night another source indicated that a dealcould come within the next day.

WMA Independents’ Elwes and Ronson are also fielding offers for JohnHuddle’s “At Satchem Farm,” which stars Minnie Driver, Nigel Hawthorne,and Rufus Sewell. A source close to the movie indicated that adistribution deal may be near. WMA is also handling the highlyanticipated “Judas Kiss,” a first-time feature by Sebastian Gutierrezthat premieres tomorrow night. Produced by Bandeira’s Beau Flynn &Stefan Simchowitz and stars Simon Baker-Denny, Gil Bellows, CarlaGugino, and Hal Holbrook. The film has garnered significant pre-festivalpress and has not yet screened for distributors, so industry turnoutwill be high. “Kiss” also stars Emma Thompson and Alan Rickman.

Similarly being positioned to sell here this week is Scott Ziehl’s“Broken Vessels” which screens tonight, tomorrow night and Thursday.Winner of the top prize at the 1998 LAIFF, the movie is being handled byrep John Sloss and his team of Joy Newhouse and Micah Green. Highlyanticipated is the new Bernardo Bertolucci film, “The Seige,” whichscreened last night and this morning. All rights are available for themovie which screens again tomorrow. Also on the radar is Bruce Wagner’s“I’m Losing You” from Lions Gate and Killer Films. Paramount Classicsis rumored to be sniffing around the film according to a very informedsoruce. The movie stars Gina Gershon, Andrew McCarthy, RosannaArquette, Frank Langella and Elizabeth Perkins. When asked about hiscompany’s interest yesterday, Paramount’s David Dinerstein would notcomment.

Finally, following a major break in yesterday’s New York Times, DavidRiker’s intimate black and white portrait of Latino immigrants living inNew York City has become a hot topic of conversation. “The City” (“LaCiudad“), which was mostly financed by ITVS, packed its Saturdayafternoon press/industry screening and since then buzz has been slowlybuilding. In yesterday’s Times, Bernard Weinraub gave the movieconsiderable ink adding to the interest in the movie, and in an articlepublished by indieWIRE today, writer Stephen Garrett called the movie“disarmingly affecting.” Garrett also singled out another black andwhite entry, Christopher Nolan’s “Following.” The film, which Garrettcalled a “major highlight” of “inspired drama,” is on the marketfollowing a pact with Next Wave Films to provide finishing funds.

Meanwhile, recent acquisitions deals will undoubtedly add to generalinterest in two festival films. Trimark nabbed the rights to LarryClark’s “Another Day in Paradise” following its screening at the VeniceFilm Festival. The film screens here tonight, tomorrow, and Thursday. Inaddition, before the festival began Lions Gate acquired the rights toJeremy Thomas’ “All The Little Animals.” The movie screens again onSaturday.